A Well Deserved Love
by Suishugorei
Summary: Cloud and Tifa share many problems and hardships through the lost Aerith and geostigma.
1. Chapter 1

**A Well-Deserved Love**

Part I

The wet cloth swept the table and gracefully moved along, removing each speck of dust. The hand manipulating that cloth then reached down and grabbed two ice cold mugs from the lower freezer and handed them to two gruff men sitting at the bar table. The hand belonged to a rather attractive young woman. She had long dark hair that was reflecting a series of red colored light caused by the halogen lights hanging overhead. In a dark corner of the bar in which the rather attractive young woman was working sat her best friend, working as a guard for the bar. He always sat in the corner, watching over the young woman, known as Tifa Lockheart, owner of the Seventh Heaven bar. His job was to make sure no drunken bastard went crazy without having his ass severely kicked and thrown out. But tonight his mind was not on kicking a drunkard's ass, as it usually was. For the past 2 years…all he could think about was the beautiful young woman in which he failed to save. The memory flashed through his head over and over of the perfect figure of the angel of his love being penetrated by a long, silvery katana; and how even her blood, as it poured forth from her heart, was as beautiful as bright red roses on a cloudy day.

Aerith Gainsborough was indeed a very attractive young woman. She had eyes that possessed the color of green only manifested in the hardiest of grasses and herbs. Her various colors of brown hair twirled and wound like the pattern in which sakura falls from its limbs. The back of her hair was long and always braided gracefully, entwined like the elegance of vines growing perfectly on a tree. Her lips were as pink as a cherry blossom falling to its ever lasting death, in which in its trail left a beautiful pattern, never to be forgotten, much like her own life. To Cloud, the bouncer in which was spoken of earlier, she was a paragon, never to be in the lack of his love.

Tifa had been noticing the look in his eyes for the past 2 whole years his mind had been helplessly wandering the maze of love that he was in with a person 2 years past. She just couldn't take it anymore. All her life she had loved him so much, she had given him so many hints, she had done so much for him. But it seemed as if nothing worked. Nothing could satisfy Cloud's hunger except for Aerith, the angel that Tifa felt as though she could never compete with. She loved Aerith as a sister and as a friend, but she couldn't quiet the jealousy that was in her heart. Aerith…was dead…gone…she wasn't coming back…she must have meant a whole lot to Cloud…for him to still not have forgotten her. Tifa just wished that he felt that way about her. But today was the final day that Tifa was going to suffer in this misery; she had decided recently that after her whole life of waiting for him, she was done with it. She had waited for him when he left their hometown, she waited for him after he joined AVALANCHE, she had waited for him after they had met Aerith, and she had even waited for him 2 years after her death. She was heartbroken, and thought of what happened as a completely lost cause. She had decided to move on. She had planned a date for the coming Saturday of the week, hoping that maybe a night out with another man would ease her pain.

The bar began to close and Cloud went to the back room and unraveled the bandage on his arm hidden by a cape-like cloth that always dangled over it, hiding it from Tifa, Barret, Marlene, Denzel, Vincent, and Yuffie. The bandage unraveled and fell to the floor, blood began to ooze forth from Cloud's arm, it was dyed a black color, and a wave of weakness washed over him. He grunted, sighed, let out a very low moan, and stood back up. He re-applied the bloody bandage and left the bar, without saying a word to Tifa. He mounted his bike, and headed to the church, where Aerith had tended flowers since she was 7, and where he always washed out his wound, still believing in the miraculous healing power of Aerith's presence. He arrived at the church and unraveled the bandage again. He laid it on a chest of his old materia and set his arm in a rather large puddle of clear water and washed out his wound.

Tifa had been wondering with great amounts of worry where Cloud always ran off to in the evenings. "He shouldn't go out like that…geostigma is everywhere," she would think to herself, "if he keeps going out like that he's bound to get it." She sighed. "Tifa!!" called a light cute voice with great anxiety cried from the bedroom. "Hurry!" Tifa glided up the stairs with a speedy, cheetah-like grace. She entered a room with Marlene, the young girl that had called her, and also the daughter of Barret, and a young boy that lived with them, Denzel. He was a young homeless boy that they had recently taken in and come to love as family. He lied in the bed, and black blood was gushing forth from his forehead and oozing down his face. His body compulsively throbbed and tossed and turned. "Oh my God!!" cried Tifa, she reached in her pocket and took a cloth from her pocket. She then covered his head with it and pressed in. "Marlene…keep it there!!" she cried. "Yes ma'am!" Marlene responded and used her entire body weight to hold Denzel down and keep him from bleeding. Tifa glided back down he stairs with the same beautiful grace in which she had risen with a sense of urgency. She reached in the cabinets of liquor and grabbed a strong alcohol. She fled from the bar and back up the stairs, and she saturated Denzel's wound with the liquor. He passed out and the bleeding slowly subsided. Marlene sat there in shock as Tifa said… "Marlene, watch him…and tell me if anything happens…it's the stigma. "Y---ye---yes ma'am," said Marlene anxiously. Tifa…in worry for Denzel's life…and what Cloud was hiding…retreated to her room and cried.


	2. Chapter 2

**A Well Deserved Love**

Part 2

"What's that Tifa?" called out a cute, girlish voice belonging to Barret's adopted daughter, Marlene. "It's…it's a bandage, responded a very concerned Tifa. She reached out and picked up a long, silken bandage covered in a sort of black die from a chest of materia in the Midgard church. "Does Cloud live here?" questioned an inquisitive Marlene. "I…guess he does" answered Tifa. Marlene continued with her questioning, as many children do. "Is Cloud sick?!" "Why didn't he say something?" said Tifa to herself as a single tear slowly cascaded down her cheek. "I guess…he wants to fight alone," Tifa said to answer her own question. "Fight?" Marlene questioned. But Tifa quickly responded "No," originally to deny it herself and inadvertently answering Marlene. They talked for a little while about waiting for Cloud and when they should leave and enjoyed the beautiful scenery of the church: "When he gets back… We'll have to…give him a lecture!" Tifa said with a smile. And Marlene blissfully replied with an "Uhhh-hu!"

Cloud had left the church earlier that morning and had just missed Tifa and Marlene to visit his old sword that he had planted in the earth two years ago, and to reminisce upon old times when Aerith was still alive. Cloud saw that over the past years, the sword had fallen over. He skillfully swept it up in his arms and plunged it deep into the rocky earth below him. "Some one really loves you…and you're letting it go to waste…for me…I can't help you now…Cloud". A sweet, flowery voice seemed to faintly speak in Cloud's head, but it was extremely fleeting. Cloud shook it off, convincing himself it was all in his head. He began to head back home. As he rode through the rock, clay, and earth that was obliterated two years ago by holy and meteor, a cloud of dust rose, leaving a perfect trail behind Cloud's motorcycle. He had just begun to ride tranquilly back to the bar when he noticed a sound of another motorcycle at a higher gear. He turned his head and his soft blonde hair swept over his face. He brushed it to the side to see, in horror, that 2 young men dressed in black, both with silvery hair, were chasing him with a malicious look in their eyes. Cloud turned around and put his bike into high gear and began to speed forward. Before he knew it, two fiends had arisen from the earth and were chasing beside him, knocking his bike back and forth, as if he were a ball being tossed around by seals.

But then, the fiends vanished in the blink of an eye, all that was left was a faded arrival of a thick smoke. The two men chasing his turned around gracefully and rode off. Cloud stared curiously at them from a distance. "You're welcome" sounded a beautiful flowery voice in his head.


	3. Chapter 3

A Well Deserved Love Part 3

Tifa felt her body being flung against a wall; she then felt it flop gracefully down into the flowerbed of the Midgar Church. Her vision was blurred, all she could see were the blended, blurry colors of the garden, and then a tall black figure that happened to belong to the man who had just surprise attacked her. She felt her body being pulled up from the back and then noticed that she had no energy to hold up her head, which fell back and took her glossy black hair with it. She opened her eyes with effort and saw the face of the man in which had attacked her. He was all dressed in black and had short, silvery hair. He slowly pulled out the electrical device he had used to stun her when he had attacked her before. It unfolded itself and Tifa saw it grow only inches away from her breast. She braced herself and prepared for intense pain. However, it didn't come; Tifa had heard a dull "thunk" and had noticed that she had not received the pain. She looked up, and there was Marlene, the brave but naive little girl that she was, standing with material in her hand, ready for combat. "Hmmm…" grunted the man in black pleasantly…Tifa saw her vision blur, and then she blacked out.

Tifa woke up…she noticed she was in Cloud's bed that he used at the bar. She looked around in wonder and heard water stop running. Then, a rather attractive young man stepped forth from the shower wearing only a towel. He had soft blond hair that even when wet, was very light in color and dripped in front of his face. He had intense aqua colored eyes that Tifa never knew if they were blue or green, but they were beautiful. His skin was lightly colored, but at the same time beautiful. He presented a lean, muscular body. He was a very skinny guy, but you could see his strength in his body. Tifa saw every muscle well defined and she watched his lower abs flex as he walked slowly across the room. "I've waited…so long, but we don't have to wait anymore…." Cloud spoke softly in a whisper. He then leaned in and his lips met hers. It was an incredibly strong and intense kiss that advanced further and further, Tifa began returning the kiss with all she had: her love for Cloud, her envy of Aerith, and all the feelings she had hidden before on every other occasion that she had for Cloud. She poured all her heart's contents into the kiss. She felt Cloud move from the floor to the bed, and felt his towel slip off and he was in bed with her, showering her with his love. "I love you so much and I've waited for this day…for so long…" Tifa heard herself say. As she said it, she was looking into Clouds eyes as the kissing had ceased for a moment. She noticed that an eyelash had fallen from his godlike eyes to his cheek. Tifa, in tears of joy, reached up to his face and took the eyelash and showed it to him with her enchanting little smile. She turned her head in a flirty and romantic way. "Make a wish!" she cried out gleefully and sniffed back tears of joy. "Don't need to…"she heard Cloud say, and sat up in wonder a little bit to hear what he had to say. "I have everything I want right here…" Tifa's heart leapt into her throat with sheer joy, and she watched his beautiful face and his smooth, attractive neck lean in to give her the next intense kiss that she anticipated. Their lips met, but she never felt the kiss. She saw that Cloud was gone. She looked around the dark room, which had been morning lit only a moment before. She saw that she was alone, and awake. She turned over and laid her beautiful face into her pillow and cried.


End file.
